- Date Of Birth: March 6, 1929
- Date Of Death: June 3, 2014
- State: Michigan
SOPJES, Donald M. passed away on Tuesday, June 3, 2014. Don was born on March 6, 1929, in Kalamazoo, a son of the late John O. and Elizabeth Koning Sopjes, and had lived in the Kalamazoo area most of his life.
He enjoyed golf, travel, biking, and walking. Don worked for Doubleday Bros. & Co., for 44 years in various positions and served as office furniture manager before moving into printing and elections departments. He programmed and sold some of the first optical scan vote tabulators in Michigan.
Don graduated from Kalamazoo Christian High School. After 2 years at Calvin College, Don graduated from Western Michigan University in 1951. He spent many years supporting the Kalamazoo Christian Schools on the Christian School Realty Board. He was married in April 1951 to Joyce Taylor, who passed away in November 1990. Don was a longtime member of Third Christian Reformed Church and served as a deacon, elder, and clerk of the council. He married Carol Lee Wagner in August 1996, who survives. He is preceded in death by his parents and three brothers, Alfred, John, and Harvey. He also lost his first child, Ronnie, at one-month-old.
Don is survived by three sons and a daughter; David Barbara Sopjes of Ferndale, CA, Robert Winnie Sopjes of Kalamazoo, Marcia Dennis Toennessen of Chugiak, AK, and Jack Erin Sopjes of Dorr, MI.; also surviving are step-children, Scott June Wagner of Kentwood, Cheryl Ray Haupt of Iowa and Kathy Curt Fitch of Jenison.
Also surviving are 22 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren; a brother, Anthony Sopjes, and a sister-in-law, Terry Post Sopjes.
